President Donald Trump is addressing hypothesis he had one thing to do with the cancellation of The Late Present With Stephen Colbert.
“Everyone is saying that I used to be solely liable for the firing of Stephen Colbert from CBS, Late Night time. That isn't true!” Trump, 79, wrote through his Truth Social account on Tuesday, July 29.
“The explanation he was fired was a pure lack of TALENT, and the truth that this deficiency was costing CBS $50 Million {Dollars} a 12 months in losses — And it was solely going to get WORSE!” Trump claimed.
In response to the president, he suspects that Jimmy Kimmel Dwell! and The Tonight Present Starring Jimmy Fallon will likely be subsequent on the chopping block.
“Subsequent up will likely be an excellent much less proficient Jimmy Kimmel, after which, a weak, and really insecure, Jimmy Fallon. The one actual query is, who will go first?” Trump shared.
He added, “Present Biz and Tv is a quite simple enterprise. For those who get Rankings, you may say or do something. For those who don't, you all the time turn into a sufferer. Colbert grew to become a sufferer to himself, the opposite two will observe.”
Colbert, 61, broke the information of The Late Present's cancellation throughout the July 17 taping of his late evening speak present.
“Earlier than we begin the present I need to let you realize one thing that I came upon simply final evening,” he mentioned. “Subsequent 12 months will likely be our final season, the community will likely be ending The Late Present in Might.”
Because the studio viewers booed, the comic mentioned, “I share your emotions. It's not simply the top of our present, however it's the top of The Late Present on CBS. I'm not being changed. That is all simply going away. I do need to say that the parents at CBS have been nice companions. … And I'm grateful to the viewers, you, who've joined us each evening, in right here, on the market and all world wide.”
Whereas CBS mentioned the cancellation was “purely a monetary determination,” some folks — together with Colbert — have questioned whether or not it was politically motivated. Colbert ceaselessly criticizes Trump on the present, together with taking intention at CBS father or mother firm Paramount's $16 million settlement with Trump over a lawsuit introduced by the president. Colbert criticized the deal simply days earlier than his present was canceled.
Final week, Trump's Federal Communications Fee approved an $8 billion merger between Paramount and Skydance Media, prompting hypothesis over whether or not Colbert's cancellation was a bargaining chip to assist the deal via.
“CBS's billionaire homeowners pay Trump $16 million to settle a bogus lawsuit whereas attempting to promote the community to Skydance. Stephen Colbert, a rare expertise and the most well-liked late evening host, slams the deal. Days later, he's fired. Do I believe this can be a coincidence? NO,” wrote Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders through X on July 18.
Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren questioned whether or not the cancellation was a “political favor in trade for approval of Paramount's megamerger with Skydance” in her personal X submit.
For its half, CBS claimed in an announcement issued on July 17 that the cancellation is unrelated “in any option to the present's efficiency, content material or different issues taking place at Paramount.”
